Method for skipping an ul transmission in a wireless communication system and device therefor

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and a device for skipping an UL transmission in a wireless system, the method comprising: receiving a RRC signaling configuring that the UE skips an UL transmission if there is no data available for transmission, receiving an UL grant for new transmission for a HARQ process, and discarding an old MAC PDU in a HARQ buffer of the HARQ process without storing any new MAC PDU in the HARQ buffer, if there is no data available for transmission.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a wireless communication system and,more particularly, to a method for skipping an UL transmission in awireless communication system and a device therefor.

BACKGROUND ART

As an example of a mobile communication system to which the presentinvention is applicable, a 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long TermEvolution (hereinafter, referred to as LTE) communication system isdescribed in brief.

FIG. 1 is a view schematically illustrating a network structure of anE-UMTS as an exemplary radio communication system. An Evolved UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (E-UMTS) is an advanced version of aconventional Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and basicstandardization thereof is currently underway in the 3GPP. E-UMTS may begenerally referred to as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system. For detailsof the technical specifications of the UMTS and E-UMTS, reference can bemade to Release 7 and Release 8 of “3rd Generation Partnership Project;Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network”.

Referring to FIG. 1, the E-UMTS includes a User Equipment (UE), eNode Bs(eNBs), and an Access Gateway (AG) which is located at an end of thenetwork (E-UTRAN) and connected to an external network. The eNBs maysimultaneously transmit multiple data streams for a broadcast service, amulticast service, and/or a unicast service.

One or more cells may exist per eNB. The cell is set to operate in oneof bandwidths such as 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz and provides adownlink (DL) or uplink (UL) transmission service to a plurality of UEsin the bandwidth. Different cells may be set to provide differentbandwidths. The eNB controls data transmission or reception to and froma plurality of UEs. The eNB transmits DL scheduling information of DLdata to a corresponding UE so as to inform the UE of a time/frequencydomain in which the DL data is supposed to be transmitted, coding, adata size, and hybrid automatic repeat and request (HARQ)-relatedinformation. In addition, the eNB transmits UL scheduling information ofUL data to a corresponding UE so as to inform the UE of a time/frequencydomain which may be used by the UE, coding, a data size, andHARQ-related information. An interface for transmitting user traffic orcontrol traffic may be used between eNBs. A core network (CN) mayinclude the AG and a network node or the like for user registration ofUEs. The AG manages the mobility of a UE on a tracking area (TA) basis.One TA includes a plurality of cells.

Although wireless communication technology has been developed to LTEbased on wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), the demands andexpectations of users and service providers are on the rise. Inaddition, considering other radio access technologies under development,new technological evolution is required to secure high competitivenessin the future. Decrease in cost per bit, increase in serviceavailability, flexible use of frequency bands, a simplified structure,an open interface, appropriate power consumption of UEs, and the likeare required.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

7 An object of the present invention devised to solve the problem liesin a method and device for a method for skipping an UL transmission in awireless communication system. The technical problems solved by thepresent invention are not limited to the above technical problems andthose skilled in the art may understand other technical problems fromthe following description.

Technical Solution

The object of the present invention can be achieved by providing amethod for User Equipment (UE) operating in a wireless communicationsystem as set forth in the appended claims.

In another aspect of the present invention, provided herein is acommunication apparatus as set forth in the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

Advantageous Effects

It is invented that a UE can flush a hybrid automatic repeat and request(HARQ) buffer and does not fill the HARQ buffer with padding-only mediumaccess control protocol data unit (MAC PDU), if the UE receives a ULgrant for new transmission while there is no data available fortransmission.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the effectsachieved by the present invention are not limited to what has beenparticularly described hereinabove and other advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network structure of an Evolved UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (E-UMTS) as an example of a wirelesscommunication system;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating network structure of an evolveduniversal mobile telecommunication system (E-UMTS), and FIG. 2B is ablock diagram depicting architecture of a typical E-UTRAN and a typicalEPC;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control plane and a user plane of a radiointerface protocol between a UE and an E-UTRAN based on a 3rd generationpartnership project (3GPP) radio access network standard;

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a physical channel structure usedin an E-UMTS system;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a communication apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for MAC structure overview in a UE side; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a method for skipping an UL transmission in awireless communication system according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

BEST MODE

Universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) is a 3rd Generation(3G) asynchronous mobile communication system operating in wideband codedivision multiple access (WCDMA) based on European systems, globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM) and general packet radio services(GPRS). The long-term evolution (LTE) of UMTS is under discussion by the3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) that standardized UMTS.

The 3GPP LTE is a technology for enabling high-speed packetcommunications. Many schemes have been proposed for the LTE objectiveincluding those that aim to reduce user and provider costs, improveservice quality, and expand and improve coverage and system capacity.The 3G LTE requires reduced cost per bit, increased serviceavailability, flexible use of a frequency band, a simple structure, anopen interface, and adequate power consumption of a terminal as anupper-level requirement.

Hereinafter, structures, operations, and other features of the presentinvention will be readily understood from the embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Embodiments described later are examples in which technicalfeatures of the present invention are applied to a 3GPP system.

Although the embodiments of the present invention are described using along term evolution (LTE) system and a LTE-advanced (LTE-A) system inthe present specification, they are purely exemplary. Therefore, theembodiments of the present invention are applicable to any othercommunication system corresponding to the above definition. In addition,although the embodiments of the present invention are described based ona frequency division duplex (FDD) scheme in the present specification,the embodiments of the present invention may be easily modified andapplied to a half-duplex FDD (H-FDD) scheme or a time division duplex(TDD) scheme.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating network structure of an evolveduniversal mobile telecommunication system (E-UMTS). The E-UMTS may bealso referred to as an LTE system. The communication network is widelydeployed to provide a variety of communication services such as voice(VoIP) through IMS and packet data.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the E-UMTS network includes an evolved UMTSterrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), an Evolved Packet Core (EPC)and one or more user equipment. The E-UTRAN may include one or moreevolved NodeB (eNodeB) 20, and a plurality of user equipment (UE) 10 maybe located in one cell. One or more E-UTRAN mobility management entity(MME)/system architecture evolution (SAE) gateways 30 may be positionedat the end of the network and connected to an external network.

As used herein, “downlink” refers to communication from eNodeB 20 to UE10, and “uplink” refers to communication from the UE to an eNodeB. UE 10refers to communication equipment carried by a user and may be alsoreferred to as a mobile station (MS), a user terminal (UT), a subscriberstation (SS) or a wireless device.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram depicting architecture of a typical E-UTRANand a typical EPC.

As illustrated in FIG. 2B, an eNodeB 20 provides end points of a userplane and a control plane to the UE 10. MME/SAE gateway 30 provides anend point of a session and mobility management function for UE 10. TheeNodeB and MME/SAE gateway may be connected via an Si interface.

The eNodeB 20 is generally a fixed station that communicates with a UE10, and may also be referred to as a base station (BS) or an accesspoint. One eNodeB 20 may be deployed per cell. An interface fortransmitting user traffic or control traffic may be used between eNodeBs20.

The MME provides various functions including NAS signaling to eNodeBs20, NAS signaling security, AS Security control, Inter CN node signalingfor mobility between 3GPP access networks, Idle mode UE Reachability(including control and execution of paging retransmission), TrackingArea list management (for UE in idle and active mode), PDN GW andServing GW selection, MME selection for handovers with MME change, SGSNselection for handovers to 2G or 3G 3GPP access networks, Roaming,Authentication, Bearer management functions including dedicated bearerestablishment, Support for PWS (which includes ETWS and CMAS) messagetransmission. The SAE gateway host provides assorted functions includingPer-user based packet filtering (by e.g. deep packet inspection), LawfulInterception, UE IP address allocation, Transport level packet markingin the downlink, UL and DL service level charging, gating and rateenforcement, DL rate enforcement based on APN-AMBR. For clarity MME/SAEgateway 30 will be referred to herein simply as a “gateway,” but it isunderstood that this entity includes both an MME and an SAE gateway.

A plurality of nodes may be connected between eNodeB 20 and gateway 30via the S1 interface. The eNodeBs 20 may be connected to each other viaan X2 interface and neighboring eNodeBs may have a meshed networkstructure that has the X2 interface.

As illustrated, eNodeB 20 may perform functions of selection for gateway30, routing toward the gateway during a Radio Resource Control (RRC)activation, scheduling and transmitting of paging messages, schedulingand transmitting of Broadcast Channel (BCCH) information, dynamicallocation of resources to UEs 10 in both uplink and downlink,configuration and provisioning of eNodeB measurements, radio bearercontrol, radio admission control (RAC), and connection mobility controlin LTE_ACTIVE state. In the EPC, and as noted above, gateway 30 mayperform functions of paging origination, LTE-IDLE state management,ciphering of the user plane, System Architecture Evolution (SAE) bearercontrol, and ciphering and integrity protection of Non-Access Stratum(NAS) signaling.

The EPC includes a mobility management entity (MME), a serving-gateway(S-GW), and a packet data network-gateway (PDN-GW). The MME hasinformation about connections and capabilities of UEs, mainly for use inmanaging the mobility of the UEs. The S-GW is a gateway having theE-UTRAN as an end point, and the PDN-GW is a gateway having a packetdata network (PDN) as an end point.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control plane and a user plane of a radiointerface protocol between a UE and an E-UTRAN based on a 3GPP radioaccess network standard. The control plane refers to a path used fortransmitting control messages used for managing a call between the UEand the E-UTRAN. The user plane refers to a path used for transmittingdata generated in an application layer, e.g., voice data or Internetpacket data.

A physical (PHY) layer of a first layer provides an information transferservice to a higher layer using a physical channel. The PHY layer isconnected to a medium access control (MAC) layer located on the higherlayer via a transport channel. Data is transported between the MAC layerand the PHY layer via the transport channel. Data is transported betweena physical layer of a transmitting side and a physical layer of areceiving side via physical channels. The physical channels use time andfrequency as radio resources. In detail, the physical channel ismodulated using an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)scheme in downlink and is modulated using a single carrier frequencydivision multiple access (SC-FDMA) scheme in uplink.

The MAC layer of a second layer provides a service to a radio linkcontrol (RLC) layer of a higher layer via a logical channel. The RLClayer of the second layer supports reliable data transmission. Afunction of the RLC layer may be implemented by a functional block ofthe MAC layer. A packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer of thesecond layer performs a header compression function to reduceunnecessary control information for efficient transmission of anInternet protocol (IP) packet such as an IP version 4 (IPv4) packet oran IP version 6 (IPv6) packet in a radio interface having a relativelysmall bandwidth.

A radio resource control (RRC) layer located at the bottom of a thirdlayer is defined only in the control plane. The RRC layer controlslogical channels, transport channels, and physical channels in relationto configuration, re-configuration, and release of radio bearers (RBs).An RB refers to a service that the second layer provides for datatransmission between the UE and the E-UTRAN. To this end, the RRC layerof the UE and the RRC layer of the E-UTRAN exchange RRC messages witheach other.

One cell of the eNB is set to operate in one of bandwidths such as 1.25,2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz and provides a downlink or uplinktransmission service to a plurality of UEs in the bandwidth. Differentcells may be set to provide different bandwidths.

Downlink transport channels for transmission of data from the E-UTRAN tothe UE include a broadcast channel (BCH) for transmission of systeminformation, a paging channel (PCH) for transmission of paging messages,and a downlink shared channel (SCH) for transmission of user traffic orcontrol messages. Traffic or control messages of a downlink multicast orbroadcast service may be transmitted through the downlink SCH and mayalso be transmitted through a separate downlink multicast channel (MCH).

Uplink transport channels for transmission of data from the UE to theE-UTRAN include a random access channel (RACH) for transmission ofinitial control messages and an uplink SCH for transmission of usertraffic or control messages. Logical channels that are defined above thetransport channels and mapped to the transport channels include abroadcast control channel (BCCH), a paging control channel (PCCH), acommon control channel (CCCH), a multicast control channel (MCCH), and amulticast traffic channel (MTCH).

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a physical channel structure usedin an E-UMTS system. A physical channel includes several subframes on atime axis and several subcarriers on a frequency axis. Here, onesubframe includes a plurality of symbols on the time axis. One subframeincludes a plurality of resource blocks and one resource block includesa plurality of symbols and a plurality of subcarriers. In addition, eachsubframe may use certain subcarriers of certain symbols (e.g., a firstsymbol) of a subframe for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH),that is, an L1/L2 control channel. In FIG. 4, an L1/L2 controlinformation transmission area (PDCCH) and a data area (PDSCH) are shown.In one embodiment, a radio frame of 10 ms is used and one radio frameincludes 10 subframes. In addition, one subframe includes twoconsecutive slots. The length of one slot may be 0.5 ms. In addition,one subframe includes a plurality of OFDM symbols and a portion (e.g., afirst symbol) of the plurality of OFDM symbols may be used fortransmitting the L1/L2 control information. A transmission time interval(TTI) which is a unit time for transmitting data is 1 ms.

A base station and a UE mostly transmit/receive data via a PDSCH, whichis a physical channel, using a DL-SCH which is a transmission channel,except a certain control signal or certain service data. Informationindicating to which UE (one or a plurality of UEs) PDSCH data istransmitted and how the UE receive and decode PDSCH data is transmittedin a state of being included in the PDCCH.

For example, in one embodiment, a certain PDCCH is CRC-masked with aradio network temporary identity (RNTI) “A” and information about datais transmitted using a radio resource “B” (e.g., a frequency location)and transmission format information “C” (e.g., a transmission blocksize, modulation, coding information or the like) via a certainsubframe. Then, one or more UEs located in a cell monitor the PDCCHusing its RNTI information. And, a specific UE with RNTI “A” reads thePDCCH and then receive the PDSCH indicated by B and C in the PDCCHinformation.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a communication apparatus according to anembodiment of the present invention.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 5 can be a user equipment (UE) and/or eNBadapted to perform the above mechanism, but it can be any apparatus forperforming the same operation.

As shown in FIG. 5, the apparatus may comprises a DSP/microprocessor(110) and RF module (transmiceiver; 135). The DSP/microprocessor (110)is electrically connected with the transciver (135) and controls it. Theapparatus may further include power management module (105), battery(155), display (115), keypad (120), SIM card (125), memory device (130),speaker (145) and input device (150), based on its implementation anddesigner's choice.

Specifically, FIG. 5 may represent a UE comprising a receiver (135)configured to receive a request message from a network, and atransmitter (135) configured to transmit the transmission or receptiontiming information to the network. These receiver and the transmittercan constitute the transceiver (135). The UE further comprises aprocessor (110) connected to the transceiver (135: receiver andtransmitter).

Also, FIG. 5 may represent a network apparatus comprising a transmitter(135) configured to transmit a request message to a UE and a receiver(135) configured to receive the transmission or reception timinginformation from the UE. These transmitter and receiver may constitutethe transceiver (135). The network further comprises a processor (110)connected to the transmitter and the receiver. This processor (110) maybe configured to calculate latency based on the transmission orreception timing information.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for MAC structure overview in a UE side.

The MAC layer handles logical-channel multiplexing, hybrid-ARQretransmissions, and uplink and downlink scheduling. It is alsoresponsible for multiplexing/demultiplexing data across multiplecomponent carriers when carrier aggregation is used.

The MAC provides services to the RLC in the form of logical channels. Alogical channel is defined by the type of information it carries and isgenerally classified as a control channel, used for transmission ofcontrol and configuration information necessary for operating an LTEsystem, or as a traffic channel, used for the user data.

In order to transmit on the UL-SCH the MAC entity must have a validuplink grant (except for non-adaptive HARQ retransmissions) which it mayreceive dynamically on the PDCCH or in a Random Access Response or whichmay be configured semi-persistently. To perform requested transmissions,the MAC layer receives HARQ information from lower layers. When thephysical layer is configured for uplink spatial multiplexing, the MAClayer can receive up to two grants (one per HARQ process) for the sameTTI from lower layers.

If the MAC entity has a C-RNTI, a Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI, ora Temporary C-RNTI, the MAC entity shall for each TTI and for eachServing Cell belonging to a TAG that has a running timeAlignmentTimerand for each grant received for this TTI,

the MAC entity may consider the NDI to have been toggled for thecorresponding HARQ process regardless of the value of the NDI, anddeliver the uplink grant and the associated HARQ information to the HARQentity for this TTI if: i) an uplink grant for this TTI and this ServingCell has been received on the PDCCH for the MAC entity's C-RNTI orTemporary C-RNTI; or ii) an uplink grant for this TTI has been receivedin a Random Access Response, and if the uplink grant is for MAC entity'sC-RNTI and if the previous uplink grant delivered to the HARQ entity forthe same HARQ process was either an uplink grant received for the MACentity's Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI or a configured uplink grant.

Else, if this Serving Cell is the SpCell and if an uplink grant for thisTTI has been received for the SpCell on the PDCCH of the SpCell for theMAC entity's Semi-Persistent Scheduling C-RNTI, the MAC entity mayconsider the NDI for the corresponding HARQ process not to have beentoggled, and deliver the uplink grant and the associated HARQinformation to the HARQ entity for this TTI, if the NDI in the receivedHARQ information is 1. Else if the NDI in the received HARQ informationis 0, the MAC entity may clear the configured uplink grant if PDCCHcontents indicate SPS release. Or, the MAC entity may store the uplinkgrant and the associated HARQ information as configured uplink grant,initialise (if not active) or re-initialise (if already active) theconfigured uplink grant to start in this TTI and to recur, consider theNDI bit for the corresponding HARQ process to have been toggled, anddeliver the configured uplink grant and the associated HARQ informationto the HARQ entity for this TTI, if PDCCH contents do not indicate SPSrelease.

Else, if this Serving Cell is the SpCell and an uplink grant for thisTTI has been configured for the SpCell, the MAC entity may consider theNDI bit for the corresponding HARQ process to have been toggled, anddeliver the configured uplink grant, and the associated HARQ informationto the HARQ entity for this TTI.

The period of configured uplink grants is expressed in TTIs. If the MACentity receives both a grant in a Random Access Response and a grant forits C-RNTI or Semi persistent scheduling C-RNTI requiring transmissionson the SpCell in the same UL subframe, the MAC entity may choose tocontinue with either the grant for its RA-RNTI or the grant for itsC-RNTI or Semi persistent scheduling C-RNTI. When a configured uplinkgrant is indicated during a measurement gap and indicates an UL-SCHtransmission during a measurement gap, the MAC entity processes thegrant but does not transmit on UL-SCH.

Meanwhile, there is one HARQ entity at the MAC entity for each ServingCell with configured uplink, which maintains a number of parallel HARQprocesses allowing transmissions to take place continuously whilewaiting for the HARQ feedback on the successful or unsuccessfulreception of previous transmissions.

When the physical layer is configured for uplink spatial multiplexing,there are two HARQ processes associated with a given TTI. Otherwisethere is one HARQ process associated with a given TTI.

At a given TTI, if an uplink grant is indicated for the TTI, the HARQentity identifies the HARQ process(es) for which a transmission shouldtake place. It also routes the received HARQ feedback (ACK/NACKinformation), MCS and resource, relayed by the physical layer, to theappropriate HARQ process(es).

When TTI bundling is configured, the parameter TTI_BUNDLE_SIZE providesthe number of TTIs of a TTI bundle. TTI bundling operation relies on theHARQ entity for invoking the same HARQ process for each transmissionthat is part of the same bundle. Within a bundle HARQ retransmissionsare non-adaptive and triggered without waiting for feedback fromprevious transmissions according to TTI_BUNDLE_SIZE. The HARQ feedbackof a bundle is only received for the last TTI of the bundle (i.e the TTIcorresponding to TTI_BUNDLE_SIZE), regardless of whether a transmissionin that TTI takes place or not (e.g. when a measurement gap occurs). Aretransmission of a TTI bundle is also a TTI bundle. TTI bundling is notsupported when the MAC entity is configured with one or more SCells withconfigured uplink.

TTI bundling is not supported for RN communication with the E-UTRAN incombination with an RN subframe configuration. For transmission of Msg3during Random Access, TTI bundling does not apply.

For each TTI, the HARQ entity shall identify the HARQ process(es)associated with this TTI and for each identified HARQ process.

If an uplink grant has been indicated for this process and this TTI, theHARQ entity shall obtain the MAC PDU to transmit from the “Multiplexingand assembly” entity, deliver the MAC PDU and the uplink grant and theHARQ information to the identified HARQ process, and instruct theidentified HARQ process to trigger a new transmission if: i) thereceived grant was not addressed to a Temporary C-RNTI on PDCCH and ifthe NDI provided in the associated HARQ information has been toggledcompared to the value in the previous transmission of this HARQ process;or ii) the uplink grant was received on PDCCH for the C-RNTI and theHARQ buffer of the identified process is empty; or iii) there is no MACPDU in the Msg3 buffer and the uplink grant was received in a RandomAccess Response. If there is a MAC PDU in the Msg3 buffer and the uplinkgrant was received in a Random Access Response, the HARQ entity shallobtain the MAC PDU to transmit from the Msg3 buffer. Else, the MACentity shall deliver the uplink grant and the HARQ information(redundancy version) to the identified HARQ process, and instruct theidentified HARQ process to generate an adaptive retransmission.

Else, if the HARQ buffer of this HARQ process is not empty, the HARQentity shall instruct the identified HARQ process to generate anon-adaptive retransmission.

When determining if NDI has been toggled compared to the value in theprevious transmission the MAC entity shall ignore NDI received in alluplink grants on PDCCH for its Temporary C-RNTI.

Each HARQ process is associated with a HARQ buffer.

Each HARQ process shall maintain a state variable CURRENT_TX_NB, whichindicates the number of transmissions that have taken place for the MACPDU currently in the buffer, and a state variable HARQ_FEEDBACK, whichindicates the HARQ feedback for the MAC PDU currently in the buffer.When the HARQ process is established, CURRENT_TX_NB shall be initializedto 0.

The sequence of redundancy versions is 0, 2, 3, 1. The variableCURRENT_IRV is an index into the sequence of redundancy versions. Thisvariable is up-dated modulo 4.

New transmissions are performed on the resource and with the MCSindicated on PDCCH or Random Access Response. Adaptive retransmissionsare performed on the resource and, if provided, with the MCS indicatedon PDCCH. Non-adaptive retransmission is performed on the same resourceand with the same MCS as was used for the last made transmissionattempt.

The MAC entity is configured with a Maximum number of HARQ transmissionsand a Maximum number of Msg3 HARQ transmissions by RRC: maxHARQ-Tx andmaxHARQ-Msg3Tx respectively. For transmissions on all HARQ processes andall logical channels except for transmission of a MAC PDU stored in theMsg3 buffer, the maximum number of transmissions shall be set tomaxHARQ-Tx. For transmission of a MAC PDU stored in the Msg3 buffer, themaximum number of transmissions shall be set to maxHARQ-Msg3Tx.

When the HARQ feedback is received for this TB, the HARQ process shallset HARQ_FEEDBACK to the received value.

If the HARQ entity requests a new transmission, the HARQ process shall:i) set CURRENT_TX_NB to 0; ii) set CURRENT_IRV to 0; iii) store the MACPDU in the associated HARQ buffer; iv) store the uplink grant receivedfrom the HARQ entity; v) set HARQ_FEEDBACK to NACK; and vi) generate atransmission as described below.

If the HARQ entity requests a retransmission, the HARQ process shall: i)increment CURRENT_TX_NB by 1; ii) store the uplink grant received fromthe HARQ entity, set CURRENT_IRV to the index corresponding to theredundancy version value provided in the HARQ information, setHARQ_FEEDBACK to NACK, generate a transmission as described below, ifthe HARQ entity requests an adaptive retransmission; iii) generate atransmission as described below else if the HARQ entity requests anon-adaptive retransmission and if HARQ_FEEDBACK=NACK.

It is noted that i) When receiving a HARQ ACK alone, the MAC entitykeeps the data in the HARQ buffer; and ii) When no UL-SCH transmissioncan be made due to the occurrence of a measurement gap, no HARQ feedbackcan be received and a non-adaptive retransmission follows.

To generate a transmission, if the MAC PDU was obtained from the Msg3buffer or if there is no measurement gap at the time of the transmissionand, in case of retransmission, the retransmission does not collide witha transmission for a MAC PDU obtained from the Msg3 buffer in this TTI,the HARQ process shall instruct the physical layer to generate atransmission according to the stored uplink grant with the redundancyversion corresponding to the CURRENT_IRV value and increment CURRENT_IRVby 1. If there is a measurement gap at the time of the HARQ feedbackreception for this transmission and if the MAC PDU was not obtained fromthe Msg3 buffer, the HARQ process shall set HARQ_FEEDBACK to ACK at thetime of the HARQ feedback reception for this transmission.

After performing above actions, the HARQ process then shall flush theHARQ buffer if CURRENT_TX_NB=maximum number of transmissions−1.

In summary, the current UL HARQ procedure is described in the below: i)When the UE receives an UL grant, the UE delivers the UL grant and HARQinformation to the HARQ entity, ii) When HARQ entity receives the ULgrant, the HARQ entity checks whether it's a UL grant for newtransmission or retransmission based on HARQ information, NDI, etc, iii)If the UL grant is for new transmission, the HARQ entity obtains a MACPDU from a Multiplexing and assembly entity, iv) The HARQ entitydelivers the obtained MAC PDU and UL grant to the HARQ process, andtells whether it's a new transmission or retransmission, v) When theHARQ process receives the UL grant and MAC PDU, the HARQ process storesthe MAC PDU and performs either new transmission or retransmission asindicated by HARQ entity.

Up to Rel-12, the UE flushes the HARQ buffer only when CURRENT_TX_NB(which indicates the number of transmissions that have taken place forthe MAC PDU currently in the buffer, as discussed above) is reached.While the HARQ buffer is not empty, if ACK is received for the MAC PDU,the UE doesn't perform non-adaptive retransmission of the stored MAC PDUwhile keeping the MAC PDU in the HARQ buffer. Or, while the HARQ bufferis not empty, if the HARQ entity requests a new transmission, the UEstores the new MAC PDU in the HARQ buffer and instruct PHY layer togenerate a transmission of the MAC PDU stored in the HARQ buffer. Thiscan be done by flushing HARQ buffer, that is, remove old MAC PDU, andstore the new MAC PDU (but it's totally up to UE implementation).

Meanwhile, in Rel-13, in scope of Latency Reduction, it is allowed forthe UE to skip UL grant if there is no data available for transmission.In legacy operation, the UE sends a MAC PDU containing a MAC CE forpadding BSR and optionally padding bits in response to an allocated ULdynamic or configured grant even if no data is available fortransmission in the UE buffer and no other regular MAC CE is needed tobe sent. With frequent UL grants, allowing skipping UL grants maydecrease UL interference and improve UE battery efficiency. Thus, it isallowed for UE to skip (most) dynamic and configured uplink grants if nodata is available for transmission (The UE will continue to send one ormore regular MAC CE(s), if any. That is, here, the data refers the datain a PDCP entity and a RLC entity but excluding e.g., MAC ControlElements other than Padding BSR.). The eNB may enable skipping UL grantsby RRC dedicated signalling.

As per the current UL HARQ procedure, the problem is described as below.

Assume that there is a MAC PDU stored in the HARQ buffer, for which ACKis received. More specifically, a UE may transmit the MAC PDU to an eNB,and the eNB may transmit ACK for the MAC PDU to the UE. After that, theUE receives an UL grant for a new transmission while there is no dataavailable for transmission in RLC and PDCP entities. Accordingly, no newMAC PDU is obtained from higher layers. The old MAC PDU (i.e., the MACPDU for which ACK is received) already stored in the HARQ buffer willnot be replaced by any (This is because there is no new MAC PDU forreplacing the old MAC PDU). Thus, the old MAC PDU is kept in the HARQbuffer. After that, the UE MAC instructs to UE PHY to generate a newtransmission for the old MAC PDU stored in the HARQ buffer, which theeNB already successfully received.

As seen in the above, there should be a method to skip uplinktransmission if there is no data available for transmission byconsidering the case that there is a MAC PDU already stored in the HARQbuffer.

Therefore, in the present invention, for a UE configured to skip uplinktransmission if there is no data available for transmission and if theUE receives a UL grant for new transmission, the UE empties the HARQbuffer if there is no data available for transmission. In other words,if the UE receives a UL grant for new transmission while there is nodata available for transmission, the UE flushes the HARQ buffer and doesnot fill the HARQ buffer with padding-only MAC PDU.

More specifically, a UE is configured by an eNB that the UE skips ULtransmission if there is no data available for transmission via RRCsignaling. The UE can be configured to skip UL transmission for acertain time period. While the UE is configured to skip UL transmission,if the UE receives an UL grant for a new transmission, the UE checkswhether there is data available for transmission or not.

If there is data available for transmission, the UE i) generates a MACPDU, ii) stores the generated MAC PDU in an associated HARQ buffer(i.e., the UE replaces the MAC PDU already stored in the HARQ buffer bythe newly generated MAC PDU), and iii) performs a transmission of thenewly generated MAC PDU.

Else, if there is no data available for transmission, the UE i) doesn'tgenerate a MAC PDU, ii) flushes the associated HARQ buffer (i.e., the UEdiscards a MAC PDU stored in the associated HARQ buffer), iii) doesn'tstore any MAC PDU in the associated HARQ buffer, and iv) doesn't performa transmission.

Here, the associated HARQ buffer refers a HARQ buffer of a HARQ processassociated with a TTI indicated by the received UL grant.

More specific example of the invention is described blow.

When a UE receives an UL grant, the UE delivers the UL grant and HARQinformation to the HARQ entity. When the HARQ entity receives the ULgrant, the HARQ entity checks whether it's a UL grant for newtransmission or a UL grant for retransmission based on the deliveredHARQ information (e.g., NDI, etc.).

If the UL grant is for new transmission, and if the UE is configured toskip uplink transmission and if there is no data available fortransmission, i) The HARQ entity doesn't obtain a MAC PDU, and doesn'tdeliver the UL grant to a HARQ process associated with the UL grant; andii) The HARQ process flushes the associated HARQ buffer, doesn't storeany MAC PDU in the associated HARQ buffer, and doesn't perform atransmission.

Else, i) The HARQ entity obtains a MAC PDU from a Multiplexing andassembly entity, and delivers the obtained MAC PDU and the UL grant to aHARQ process associated with the UL grant, and tells whether it's a newtransmission or retransmission to the HARQ process; and ii) When theHARQ process receives the UL grant and the MAC PDU, the HARQ processstores the MAC PDU and performs either new transmission orretransmission as indicated by the HARQ entity.

An exemplary flow chart will be introduced with reference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a method for skipping an UL transmission in awireless communication system according to embodiments of the presentinvention.In descriptions with reference to FIG. 7, it is assumed that a UE isconfigured by an eNB that the UE skips UL transmission if there is nodata available for transmission via RRC signaling. The UE can beconfigured to skip UL transmission for a certain time period.Referring to FIG. 7, a UE receives a radio resource control (RRC)signaling configuring that the UE skips an uplink (UL) transmission ifthere is no data available for transmission (S701). While the UE isconfigured to skip UL transmission, the UE receives an UL grant for newtransmission for a hybrid automatic repeat and request (HARQ) process(S703). In some embodiments, before the step S703, the UE may checkwhether the UL grant is for new transmission or retransmission. In thepresent embodiment, the UL grant is for new transmission.When the UL grant is for new transmission, the UE may check whetherthere is data available for transmission or not (S705).

If there is data available for transmission, the UE may transmit a newlygenerated MAC PDU (S707). More specifically, in this case, the UE storesa new MAC PDU in the HARQ buffer after the old MAC PDU is discarded inthe HARQ buffer, and transmits the new MAC PDU by using the UL grant fornew transmission.

If there is no data available for transmission, the UE discards an oldMAC PDU in a HARQ buffer of the HARQ process without storing any new MACPDU in the HARQ buffer (S709). In this case, the UE doesn't perform anUL transmission by using the UL grant for new transmission.

In summary, according to the present invention, the UE can flush a HARQbuffer and does not fill the HARQ buffer with padding-only MAC PDU, ifthe UE receives a UL grant for new transmission while there is no dataavailable for transmission.

The embodiments of the present invention described hereinbelow arecombinations of elements and features of the present invention. Theelements or features may be considered selective unless otherwisementioned. Each element or feature may be practiced without beingcombined with other elements or features. Further, an embodiment of thepresent invention may be constructed by combining parts of the elementsand/or features. Operation orders described in embodiments of thepresent invention may be rearranged. Some constructions of any oneembodiment may be included in another embodiment and may be replacedwith corresponding constructions of another embodiment. It is obvious tothose skilled in the art that claims that are not explicitly cited ineach other in the appended claims may be presented in combination as anembodiment of the present invention or included as a new claim bysubsequent amendment after the application is filed.

In the embodiments of the present invention, a specific operationdescribed as performed by the BS may be performed by an upper node ofthe BS. Namely, it is apparent that, in a network comprised of aplurality of network nodes including a BS, various operations performedfor communication with an MS may be performed by the BS, or networknodes other than the BS. The term ‘eNB’ may be replaced with the term‘fixed station’, ‘Node B’, ‘Base Station (BS)’, ‘access point’, etc.

The above-described embodiments may be implemented by various means, forexample, by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof.

In a hardware configuration, the method according to the embodiments ofthe present invention may be implemented by one or more ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs),Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices(PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,microcontrollers, or microprocessors.

In a firmware or software configuration, the method according to theembodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form ofmodules, procedures, functions, etc. performing the above-describedfunctions or operations. Software code may be stored in a memory unitand executed by a processor. The memory unit may be located at theinterior or exterior of the processor and may transmit and receive datato and from the processor via various known means.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention maybe carried out in other specific ways than those set forth hereinwithout departing from essential characteristics of the presentinvention. The above embodiments are therefore to be construed in allaspects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the inventionshould be determined by the appended claims, not by the abovedescription, and all changes coming within the meaning of the appendedclaims are intended to be embraced therein.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

While the above-described method has been described centering on anexample applied to the 3GPP LTE system, the present invention isapplicable to a variety of wireless communication systems in addition tothe 3GPP LTE system.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for operating, by a user equipment (UE),in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving,from a base station, an uplink (UL) grant for a transmission for ahybrid automatic repeat and request (HARQ) process; in response to theUL grant, performing a predetermined UL grant processing procedure thatincludes: when the UE is configured to skip an UL transmission and whenpredetermined data is not available for transmission, not generating aMedium Access Control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) for the UL grant,and flushing a HARQ buffer associated with the HARQ process, otherwiseobtaining and transmitting the MAC PDU for the UL grant.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the UL grant is an UL grant for a new transmission.3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) message; and based on the RRC message, configuring the UEto skip the UL transmission when the predetermined data is not availablefor transmission.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining that the predetermined data is not available fortransmission.
 5. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in awireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver; and aprocessor operatively connected to the transceiver and configured to:control the transceiver to receive, from a base station, an uplink (UL)grant for a transmission for a hybrid automatic repeat and request(HARQ) process; in response to the UL grant, perform a predetermined ULgrant processing procedure, wherein the predetermined UL grantprocessing procedure includes: when the UE is configured to skip a ULtransmission and when predetermined data is not available fortransmission, not generating a Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol dataunit (PDU) for the UL grant, and flushing a HARQ buffer associated withthe HARQ process, otherwise obtaining and transmitting the MAC PDU forthe UL grant.
 6. The UE of claim 5, wherein the UL grant is an UL grantfor a new transmission.
 7. The UE of claim 5, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: control the transceiver to receive a radioresource control (RRC) message; and based on the RRC message, configurethe UE to skip the UL transmission when the predetermined data is notavailable for transmission.
 8. The UE of claim 5, wherein the processoris further configured to determine that the predetermined data is notavailable for transmission.
 9. A method for operating, by a userequipment (UE), in a wireless communication system, the methodcomprising: receiving, from a base station, an uplink (UL) grant for atransmission for a hybrid automatic repeat and request (HARQ) process;determining whether the UE is configured to skip an UL transmission andwhether predetermined data is not available for transmission; and basedon the determining and in response to the UL grant, performing apredetermined UL grant processing procedure that includes: when the UEis configured to skip the UL transmission and when the predetermineddata is not available for transmission, not generating a Medium AccessControl (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) for the UL grant, and flushing aHARQ buffer associated with the HARQ process.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the predetermined UL grant processing procedure furtherincludes: obtaining and transmitting the MAC PDU for the UL grant whenthe UE is not configured to skip the UL transmission or when thepredetermined data is available for transmission even though the UE isconfigured to skip the UL transmission.
 11. The method of claim 9,wherein the UL grant is an UL grant for a new transmission.
 12. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: receiving a radio resourcecontrol (RRC) message; and based on the RRC message, configuring the UEto skip the UL transmission when the predetermined data is not availablefor transmission.
 13. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in awireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver; and aprocessor operatively connected to the transceiver and configured to:control the transceiver to receive, from a base station, an uplink (UL)grant for a transmission for a hybrid automatic repeat and request(HARQ) process; determine whether the UE is configured to skip an ULtransmission and whether predetermined data is not available fortransmission; and based on the determining and in response to the ULgrant, performing a predetermined UL grant processing procedure thatincludes: when the UE is configured to skip the UL transmission and whenthe predetermined data is not available for transmission, not generatinga Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) for the UL grant,and flushing a HARQ buffer associated with the HARQ process.
 14. The UEof claim 13, wherein the predetermined UL grant processing procedurefurther includes: obtaining and transmitting the MAC PDU for the ULgrant when the UE is not configured to skip the UL transmission or whenthe predetermined data is available for transmission even though the UEis configured to skip the UL transmission.
 15. The UE of claim 13,wherein the UL grant is an UL grant for a new transmission.
 16. The UEof claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to: control thetransceiver to receive a radio resource control (RRC) message; and basedon the RRC message, configure the UE to skip the UL transmission whenthe predetermined data is not available for transmission.